JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|---|
New Fun Comics (1935) New Comics (1935) Detective Comics (1937) Action Comics (1938) All-American Comics (1939) |
Obscure Golden Age
DC Characters
(1935-1942)
Compiled by Jason Greenfield
Detective
Comics
Detective Comics (1937), was DC/National's third title (and the first
to keep its original name). By 1937, a sort of "era of experimentation" had
subsided. Comics publishers were learning which kinds of characters, formats
and genres would be successful. Although comic books were no longer brand
new, they had yet to hit the true "Golden Age"
of costumed heroes. So while the character
"turnover rate" was decreasing, there were still a healthy number
of genres. One of the most popular was that of the detective...
| Character | Appeared in Issues… | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buck Marshall | #1-11, 13-17, 20, 21, 23-28, 30-36 (Mar. 1937–Feb. 1940) | Western. From this point onwards new DC titles would only have one or two period characters—mainly cowboys or pirates |
| Slam Bradley | #1-152 (Mar. 1937–Oct. 1949) | Without a doubt, the most successful non-costumed strip |
| Speed Saunders | #1, 3-58 (Mar. 1937–Dec. 1941) | |
| Cosmo | #1-20, 22-37 (Mar. 1937–Mar. 1940) | Upper crust British detective |
| Bart Regan, Spy | #1-77 (Mar. 1937–July 1943) | |
| Bruce Nelson | #1-36 (Mar. 1937–Feb. 1940) | |
| Brett Lawton | #1-2 (Mar–Apr. 1937) | |
| Mr. Chang | #2, 4, 6 (Apr. 1937–Aug. 1937) | Very early Oriental detective |
| Hope Hazard | #3 (May 1937); also More Fun 30 (Apr. 1938) | Female FBI Agent |
| Larry Steele | #5-26, 29-33, 43-63 (July 1937–May 1942) | West Coast based private eye |
| Floyd Stimson | #12 (Feb. 1938) | One-page adventure story entitled "Parachute Test" |
| Ruth Harkness | #15 (May 1938) | One-page adventure entitled "Adventures in the Far East" |
| Fu Manchu | #17-28 (July 1938–June 1939) | Serialized newspaper strips |
| Steve Malone: DA | #18, 19, 21, 26, 34-42, 44-59 (Aug. 1938–Jan. 1942) | Also in Adventure #38 (May 1939) |
| Inspector Kent of Scotland Yard | #19, 22 (Sept 1938–Dec. 1938) | |
| The Crimson Avenger | #20–29, 37–89 (Oct. 1938–July 1944) | In current DC Earth-0 continuity, the Avenger is sometimes considered the first costumed hero |
| Batman | #27–present (May 1939–present) | No introduction necessary |
| Cliff Crosby | #37-63 (Mar. 1940–May 1942) | Famous explorer/adventurer, later inherits newspaper (#48) |
| Air Wave | #60-137 (Feb. 1942–July 1948) | |
| Boy Commandos | #64–?? (June 1942–??) + World's Finest Comics #??–?? + Boy Commandos #1–36 (Wtr. 1942–Nov. 1949) | One of Jack Kirby's earliest successes |
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